Something That Might Last
by Cheeseburger of Doom
Summary: [FujiJiroh]Fuji willingly falls into Jiroh's trap, and while nothing is ever perfect, some things are just worth it.


There was something about Akutagawa Jiroh that was impossible for him to resist. Ever since that first match they'd played, Fuji hadn't been able to say no to anything that Jiroh had requested -- which at first had only been tennis matches. Jiroh had stalked him for a while; after somehow managing to get his hands on Fuji's phone number, he had kept calling, until Fuji had agreed to play with him.

Truth be told, Fuji had enjoyed the hero-worship (or whatever it was). He was only human after all, and having someone so devoted to him was -- well, it was nice. It helped that Jiroh was cute, and had a winning smile -- and it also helped that behind that smile there was a devious mind that could have rivaled Fuji's own. Not many people knew that -- but not many people had been on the receiving end of Jiroh's schemes.

Fuji had, and he knew; Jiroh had hooked him in, and he was the winner in this game. Fuji had realized somewhere along the line that Jiroh was trying to catch him -- and Fuji had allowed himself to be caught.

After a while, Jiroh had begun to demand things other than tennis -- like trips to the park, then trips to the movies, then dinner -- they began dating simply because Fuji couldn't say no to those demands.

He'd known all along that it was dating, he didn't have any illusions about it. For some reason, Jiroh wanted Fuji to be his boyfriend -- and Fuji really didn't have any objections to that, so long as Jiroh was the smiling, cunning, cute little thing that he was.

"That guy is here again," Momoshiro announced. "And he's mumbling about you in his sleep, Fuji-sempai."

"How do you know that, Momo?"

"I poked him with a stick to see if he was alive."

"I see."

"Why is he mumbling about you in his sleep?" Momo asked. Fuji could understand why someone might be curious about something like that.

"He admires my tennis," Fuji replied. "And besides, he came here to see me."

"Oh. Is that why he comes here so often?"

"Yes. Is there anything else you'd like to ask me, while you're at it?"

"Um. No." Momoshiro backed away, worried that he'd offended Fuji somehow. He had no desire to get on Fuji's bad side; he'd seen what that entailed.

Fuji didn't really feel the need to hide his relationship with Jiroh from his team -- but he didn't really want to throw himself a "coming out party" and announce it to the whole world, either. It was just something that was there -- that was all. He didn't think that his friends would be particularly put off by it -- but it wasn't something that he had to shove in their faces, either.

There was only one person he was worried about -- his brother. If his brother found out about his preferences, they would probably drift even further apart. He knew that Yuuta had a problem with that -- perhaps that was another reason that he didn't want to announce it, for fear that Yuuta would find out.

Yuuta would find out eventually, though -- at that time, would it be worth it?

"What do you do with a guy who sleeps all the time?" Apparently Momoshiro was having another one of his attacks of curiosity, though this time he had elected to ask Echizen instead of Fuji himself. Fuji was a little amused by this, and decided not to let his presence be noticed -- he'd much rather eavesdrop.

"How do I know?" The grumpy reply was typical of Echizen.

"It doesn't seem like very much fun."

Momo didn't know Jiroh though -- hadn't spent any amount of time around him while he was awake, and happy, and enthusiastic just to be with him --

"Why are you bothering me about this?"

"He shows up here every day. Do you think he and Fuji-sempai are doing anything weird?"

"You think too much, Momo-sempai." Echizen turned his head, and looked in Fuji's direction. So, he knew Fuji was there -- "It doesn't matter what they're doing."

"I guess not."

Fuji wanted to thank Echizen for that, but decided that he would stay hidden, and leave instead -- he didn't want to embarrass Momo, after all.

"Fuji! Fuji, let's go to a movie today." Jiroh was all smiles and full of bouncy energy; Fuji knew that wouldn't last, though, and the moment they got into the movie he would fall asleep. Fuji always had to summarize the movie afterwards -- not that he minded, since he liked to spend the movie with Jiroh sleeping on his shoulder, anyway.

What could you do with a guy who slept all the time? Just about anything you wanted, really --

"After the movie, can we go to the park and make out in the dark again? That was fun."

He didn't sleep all of the time, anyway.

"Yuuta, what would you think if I told you I was gay?" Of course it was a joke -- but it wasn't, really, and he was half-hoping that Yuuta would answer seriously.

"What the hell are you talking about, aniki?"

"It's just a question."

"You know how I feel about that --"

"Yes, of course I do. Forget that I asked." Fuji patted his brother's face (he couldn't pat him on the head anymore, since Yuuta was a head taller than he was) and turned to leave.

"I'm not finished. You know how I feel about that, but I'm learning to deal with it. You're my brother, after all."

"Have you finally forgiven me, Yuuta?"

Yuuta made a face. "Don't push your luck, aniki. I'm still going to beat you one day."

"I look forward to it!"

"I just don't want to hear any details about it, all right?"

"His name is Jiroh --"

"I hate you."

"I finally told Yuuta about us."

"Really? What did he say? You said he'd hate you if you told."

"I was wrong."

"Good! I'm glad. It might have been messy if you'd had to choose." Jiroh put his head against Fuji's chest, and snuggled up to him just like a contented cat -- and Fuji ran his hands through Jiroh's curls, listening to him purr. He realized that even if Yuuta had sworn to avoid him forever after hearing that, it still would have been worth it -- he was just happy that it hadn't come to that.

"I would have chosen you, anyway."

"Would you really?"

Fuji was a little startled by the voice; he should know by now that sometimes Jiroh could hear things even while he slept -- "Yes."

"I'm glad. Your tennis is the best. You're not such a bad kisser, either."

Fuji didn't know how his parents would react to the news that he was gay -- he didn't think they'd be very surprised, since he'd never shown an interest in girls, anyway. Even if they were surprised and started crying about how they'd never have grandchildren (that just wasn't true; Yumiko was straight enough to make up for all the children, should Yuuta also prove to be a failure in that respect) he wouldn't let it get to him -- he was who he was, and that was that.

When his parents found out, they weren't very happy -- but they didn't stop loving their son because of it. They tried to change him, but of course that didn't work -- and then they gave up, and let him live his own life.

He was very thankful for their acceptance, and knew that he'd really been born into the right family -- he had the right sister, especially, for she kept asking to come along on his dates with Jiroh and take pictures.

Fuji wouldn't have minded, except that she wanted to use his camera.

After a while, it was no longer a matter of being unable to say no to Akutagawa Jiroh -- it was more a matter of not wanting to say no.

Fuji had been caught by Akutagawa Jiroh a long time ago, and he'd never had any intention of trying to escape -- but sometimes he wondered if he was the only one who Jiroh wanted to be with. There were other tennis players that he loved and hero-worshipped much as he had done to Fuji at first -- all it would take was a little research and he could get their phone numbers, and then start bothering them to play tennis with him. It was hard to say no to Jiroh, after all --

Fuji had never had the opportunity to be the jealous type before, but he discovered that was exactly what he was -- jealous. Every time Jiroh said something about someone else's tennis skills, Fuji worried --

--until Jiroh caught on, one day, and put his fears to rest.

"It wasn't just your tennis that I liked about you," he said. "Although yours is still the best. There was something else that made me want to see you again. I don't care if I see any of them again. Well, maybe at a match, but that's all."

It was encouraging enough in its own way that Fuji didn't feel jealous very often after that; he had enough self-confidence and enough confidence in Jiroh that he wanted to believe that what they had was something that would last.

Sometimes, when they were lying next to each other covered only by a sheet, and everything was quiet -- Fuji wondered what they would be like ten years in the future. Would they still be together? Would they run away somewhere and get married? (He'd heard that they could do that some places in Canada, now.) Fuji had never considered himself the type who would make that kind of commitment --

He'd never thought of himself as the type who would fall for a cute blond boy, either, so maybe things would change.

And sometimes, when they were in each other's arms, Fuji would be the first to fall asleep -- and he would feel quite content as he drifted off, because he was probably the only person that Jiroh tried to stay awake for.

It was a little difficult being a teenaged gay couple; especially since Jiroh was so openly affectionate, and they tended to get rather odd looks from people on the streets sometimes.

Fuji wouldn't have wanted it any other way, however; it was worth all the stares when Jiroh grabbed his hand, or planted a messy, noisy kiss on his cheek; worth all the gawking faces when they made out right in the middle of the street in the rain.

It was worth the disgusted looks that Jiroh's parents gave him sometimes; worth seeing him behind their backs because they didn't approve.

"I'm sorry that my parents hate you," Jiroh said, as they sat and watched the stars in the park.

"So am I. I know that you're having a hard time at home right now," Fuji said. "I'm surprised that you didn't want to stop this."

"Why would I? Your tennis is still the best!"

Fuji laughed. "Is that really the only reason you keep me around, Jiroh?"

"Of course not; it's just the main one."

It wasn't the truth, and they both knew it; that was why they could smile at each other, and stay together in the dark or in the daylight no matter what tried to come between them --

So long as Jiroh was the smiling, happy, sleepy guy that he was, Fuji would love him.


End file.
